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LIBA 110

Finding & Evaluating Websites

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http://library.grandview.edu

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Activity:

Pictaphone or Teletionary

Rules:

  • You can't use phrases, words, or letters in your drawings
  • No talking
  • Pass when I say pass
  • Work quickly (because you don't have much time)

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Pictaphone Procedures

  • You will start with a prompt (BOX 1). Read that prompt and then draw (to your best ability) a picture that demonstrates or represents the prompt (BOX 2).
  • After 1.5 minutes, scoot the box up in the viewer so that only your drawing and the next blank box is ready to go (BOX 3); then pass it LEFT.
  • In box 3, write a caption/description of what is happening in BOX 2.
  • After 1 minute, scoot the box up in the viewer so that only your caption and the next blank box are ready for the next person. Pass it to the LEFT
  • Continue this way until all boxes are filled or until Cara says stop.

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Example

  • Prompt
    • Parents are insisting on taking a picture of the kids on the first day of school

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Pictaphone Procedures

  • You will start with a prompt (BOX 1). Read that prompt and then draw (to your best ability) a picture that demonstrates or represents the prompt (BOX 2).
  • After 1.5 minutes, scoot the box up in the viewer so that only your drawing and the next blank box is ready to go (BOX 3); then pass it LEFT.
  • In box 3, write a caption/description of what is happening in BOX 2.
  • After 1 minute, scoot the box up in the viewer so that only your caption and the next blank box are ready for the next person. Pass it to the LEFT
  • Continue this way until all boxes are filled or until Cara says stop.

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Original Pictaphone Prompts

  • Hold your horses.
  • The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.
  • The apple of your eye.
  • You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
  • Getting cold feet.
  • Time to hit the hay.
  • A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
  • Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

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Share what you started with and then your final captions...

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How does this relate to research?

  • Information changes based on interpretation
  • It's always a good idea to double check your sources, find multiple resources that confirm the same things, and track information back to the original source

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Reliable Information Sources

Unreliable Information Sources

  • Library encyclopedias
  • Government websites (but be smart consumers of information)
  • Scholarly journals
  • Library books

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  • Just Googling it (sometimes)
  • Wikipedia
  • A friend who isn't an expert

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Be Smart Consumers of Information

  • Evaluate your resources
  • Know which resources are appropriate for different types of projects

I love the internet (a lot) but the internet isn't perfect:

  • Easy
  • Always changing
  • Tons of info at my fingertips
  • Facebook
  • Silly YouTube videos...

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Be Smart Consumers of Information

User beware:

  • Anyone can put anything up and can call themselves an "authority" in that topic
  • Always changing
  • Too much information at my fingertips?
  • Time suck... (It's already WHAT time?! Ugh!)

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Wikipedia

I love Wikipedia for SOME things...but not for school research.

  • Quick and easy
  • Fairly current when I'm wondering about Mindy Kaling's latest show (The Mindy Project)...
  • ...or which episodes of Ellen Sophia Grace & Rosie appear in...
  • Use their references & external links

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http://reelmovienation.com/video-of-the-day-sophia-brownlee-meets-nicki-minaj-on-ellen-super-bass-time/

http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-31682

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Wikipedia Warning!!!

  • Anyone can edit
  • Changes constantly
  • Don't know who authors are...
  • Look carefully

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Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide

http://www.dhmo.org/

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Elements of a Good Web Resource

Authority:

  • Who wrote it?
  • What are their qualifications?
  • Is it some random enthusiast typing away in his basement?

URL:

  • What clues does the URL provide?
  • Is it a .gov?, .edu?, .com?, .us?

Purpose:

  • Personal? Company or organization? Forum for educational information? Scholarly forum?

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Elements of a Good Web Resource

Content:

  • Biased opinion
  • Objective
  • Factual
  • Are arguments well supported or researched? Contain objective and subjective information

Contact:

  • Email or write the webmaster or author?

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A helpful checklist is in your Blackboard page under Library Resources

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http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/webcheck.html

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University of Maryland Libraries. “Checklist for Evaluating Web Sites.” 2011. 16 Aug 2011.

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Searching Techniques

  • Advanced Search
  • Be a website detective
  • Be a healthy skeptic

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Let's Search!

  • Be sure to write your name on your evaluation checklists

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  • Find TWO high-quality websites on your topic & fill out a checklist for each

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  • You will hand in your checklists at the end of class, so be sure to write down your resources (or email them to yourself) if you plan to use them for your annotation cards